NFL coach Bill Belichick has shared his thoughts on a controversial rule change ahead of the 2023 season.
The league has decided to introduce the fair catch rule used in college football and it means teams will now automatically start off at the 25-yard line. Previously teams would start their drive from where the catch took place, but now both a touchback and a fair catch will enable the offense to move further up the field.
Those around the league have voiced their opinions on the decision and now the greatest coach in NFL history, usually a man of few words, has had his say.
“We’ll see about all that,” Belichick commented. “I know Coach [John] Harbaugh was pretty involved in that, Coach [Andy] Reid. I think they voiced some comments on it. I probably agree with the things they said.”
He shares similar views to that of John Harbaugh who coaches the Baltimore Ravens and coach of the reigning Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs Andy Reid. Last week, Harbaugh said: “We thought there were better ideas.The fair catch rule, we had a chance to weigh in on that with all the special teams coaches. We had a long talk and discussion about that. We weren’t for it. We voted against it.
“We think it’s going to create more high-speed head trauma than not having it in there. That’s our position on it. But we’ll see. They want to give it a shot and take a look at it.” Reid meanwhile, hoped this change will not spark more alterations to the point that it changes the sport of NFL as we know it.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to go through all that. My thing is, ‘Where does it stop?’,” he said. “So you start taking pieces [away] — and we’ll see how this goes — but you don’t want to take too many pieces away. You’ll be playing flag football.” The reason the NFL provided for the rule change was to prevent injuries and prioritise the safety of the players.
A particular injury the league wants to guard against is that of concussions, as 19 of them were reported from kick-offs last season, an increase from the season before. But former NFL player and four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski is against the decision and thinks the NFL is making too many adjustments.
"I agree with coach Andy Reid I think it's getting a little bit ridiculous on that rule change because there's already that rule," the former tight end said on The UpAndAdams Show. "If the ball goes in the endzone you can just take a knee and be at the 25-yard line. But you've got to be able to play football at some point.
“I mean that's why you have the kick-off, you might as well take the kick-off totally out of the game then and just have the team start at the 25-yard line. That's pretty ridiculous, that's going a little bit too far because there's already so many touchbacks. It's like 75 percent it's a touchback every single kick, so 75 percent of the time you're starting at 25 already. You've got to play football, you've got to play the kick-off, it's part of the history of the game."
